@pamsponderings Your opening observation resonated – I don’t rmeber my library experience from many years ago being about community… it was all transactional – checking out books! I appreciate your approach to this post and they great photo of the women from Ghana.

@micheal Safe travels to you! Will you be visiting any libraries on this trip? I hope to someday become an avid library tourist myself but so far haven’t visited any international libraries.

Best wishes for safe travels!! I hope you enjoy your time in Scotland!!

Have an Amazing time, Michael!

Have a wonderful time in Scotland, @michael! I visited there last summer (Glasgow, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, and the Isle of Skye). I’m sure you’ll love it there. Enjoy!

@annaberger @Kristin @aarontassin Thanks!!! I am super excited.

@sandyarmor We have 3 days on Skye planned. Ready to take it all in.

@michael I hope you have a safe trip! Please share some photos when you get back!

@michael Have a great trip! We were just there this past summer and it is AWESOME!!

@martmart I will for sure!

@pamsponderings Thanks! I am so excited to get back to Edinburgh!

How exciting! Enjoy your trip its a magical country for sure!

@michael Thank you for allowing us to take our time creatively exploring all this course has to offer!

Thank you @michael

Thank you, @michael! I had one other class with fluid due dates in this program and it worked out really great for me! It alleviated so much stress and I felt the work I submitted was higher quality than it would have been with fixed dates.

@annaberger @kathrina1 @sandyarmor You are all very welcome! This just feels right.

Thank you, @michael! I appreciate this!

Thank you @Michael! Personally, this will be hugely helpful. I so appreciate your flexibility!

@kristin @sydneynicholsGlad to do this! Appreciate this feedback.

I both love and dislike this! I love the flexibility and sometimes it is greatly needed but sometimes I also need a kick in the pants. Its a catch-22 but I am still grateful for this change!

This is amazing! Thank you for this, it’s greatly appreciated.

@annaberger I have long been a fan of the reference interview and actually taught workshops on it back in the 2000s. It is interesting how much it has changed since I learned how to conduct a reference interview. The graphic image you use of the take what you need sign is perfect.

I love this! I don’t have a machine but the wheels in my brain are turning about how I can make this happen in my school library…. Perhaps a kindness tree around the holidays!

@michael thanks for sharing! Such a creative idea to create a culture of kindness
@kathrina1 The kindness tree is a great idea!

@kathrina1 YES! I always think…how can this example scale to someone’s info environment?

@Kristin We need more kindness!

Yes. Meeting Michael Casey was a treat, and the topic of the environments being developed in his libraries reinforced what we are learning. I also found the emerging challenges libraries are facing very interesting – an added bonus.

I’m so happy to have this recording available, especially since we’ve been experiencing some ongoing connectivity problems due to Tropical Storm Ophelia on the East Coast… Michael Casey shared some very insightful wisdom on so many interesting topics — including strategic planning for new locations, dealing with book challenges, patron maker spaces, teen advisory councils, organizational transparency, encouraging a culture of change, Open+ access for patrons, social service interns, homeless patrons, Narcan services, de-escalation training, and even First Amendment challenges. ~Many Thanks!

Hi Heather,
Your school is lucky to have you! You have a wonderful heart for helping students at such a difficult age and I appreciate your take-aways from this module. I love your discussion of “have to” and “want to” visits to the library – it’s a wonderful thing for kids to have a library that can be a safe space they want to visit.

@hfergie I appreciate your vivid description of everything that happens in your library space. Thanks for highlighting “Serving with Love” as well!

I love the Milwaukee Public Library IG! I follow so many libraries, school libraries and authors. Social media is a great place for librarians to go to get new ideas and stay up on latest trends!

@tsjennings Social media was a game changer back in the 2000s! It paved the way for all the ways we might be hyperlinked now. (Also must acknowledge some of the unintended consequences and downsides too!) In all things – balance!

I appreciated the focus on the fundamentals. A good way to get things going. 😊.

Hi Aaron,

Your connection between this class and other previous MLIS courses is something that echoes my own experience. While reading and watching this course’s materials I find myself reflecting back on the teen services courses and academic librarianship courses I have taken previously. What you mention about simple changes, like lighting and the physical space of libraries, is so important and so often overlooked. It’s amazing to me that there appears to be so little concern for how patrons feel about a space when they enter a library. For a previous course I took I spent a ton of time analyzing my local libraries’ teen spaces. They were minimal and dismal with a few bleak and disorganized shelves, no seating, and horrible fluorescent lighting. It was almost hostile and seemed to give a clear message of “teens not very welcome.” It would be a fun exercise to bring an interior designer into a library and just see what recommendations they would make to make spaces seem more welcoming. Lighting seems like an easy, accessible, and impactful place to start.

I enjoyed reading your reflection–thanks for your post!

-Claire

@aarontassin Ahhhhh…echoes of INFO 200! I appreciate your thoughts from the director’s hat — especially lighting and overall user experience!

@zoewilliams Such a cool exploration of what you learned about Dokk1! Thrilled with your vlog format.